Thursday morning people woke up to the sight of dark skies, whipping trees and torrential rain. It was certainly not inviting weather, especially compared to the warmth of a bed first thing in the morning, but the umbrella and the bookbag beckoned in the corner. They had to go to school. School called.
The reason students went out during an inland tropical storm, despite the fact that they were risking safety and property damage, was that MSU did not cancel classes.
To the university’s credit, each student and faculty member received an e-mail saying that they should take into account safety at all times. The exact wording was “commuting students and staff should use caution and common sense when driving to campus.” Professors also received the request that they “accomodate students who may miss exams or assignments today due to this unusual weather.”
However, these measures were not adequate to compensate the for weather. Just look in the news section to see the amount of sheer damage that happened on campus-notably, damage done to students’ vehicles.
Safety was also a concern. Students and staff had to drive in unsafe weather, whether they were comfortable driving in the rain or not, and then had to endure walking with broken umbrellas and flapping panchoes through standing water and under trees that were dropping branches.
When students got to class, they had to sit in classrooms for an hour and 15 minutes at a time in drenched clothing. Even the best rain protection could not prevent all rain from permeating clothing.
The university said that students had a choice. They advised professors to be lenient about exams and assignments. However, many professors count off for absenses. This was not spelled out and could result in grading problems later.
All non-essential city personell had the day off. The public schools were closed, as well as EMCC. Why were MSU staff and students not given the same consideration?
The Reflector editorial board is made up of opinion editor Angela Adair, news editor Elizabeth Crisp, assistant news editor Jessica Bowers, sports editor Craig Peters, entertainment editor Dustin Barnes, managing editor Pam McTeer and editor in chief Josh Foreman.